What is the relevance of him being gay? Considering the fiscal disaster facing us what difference would it make if his conservative opponent were to be the most stereotypical caricature of a gay man provided he was right on the most pressing of issues? His orientation isn't the issue, rather his position on fiscal sanity is.

There is nothing to notice about any creature being heterosexual if that is the nature of the species' reproduction. If we had a species that only produced by homosexual coupling, then the heteros would in deed be noticeable.

I think it's time we start outing the people who prefer reverse cowgirl, shaved pubic hair, or threesomes, because that's more interesting to know. I can see it now as debate questions.

I don't think there is, for the Palladian type, but most certainly for the Andy type, because it really has little to do with being gay. There are a few like the Gavin Newsome, who are out there to piss people off, but I think most successful gays are way to the right of that, and the right is a better home for them in the long run for the same reasons it's better for everyone else. Most conservatives are fine with people being gay, and would welcome gays with the conservative values, which about half the gays I know embrace.

"Mark Pocan is an outstanding public servant who will be a strong and authentic voice for LGBT Americans in Congress."

"What about the rest of his constituents?"

That was my reaction to the talk surrounding Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State...she'll be a strong voice for women and women's issues around the world. WTF? That's not her job. Her job is to represent the United States.

People do the same stupid thing with writers, too. There is always an "authentic voice" for Hispanics and Native Americans in the South West and all it really means is... there's your corner, sit in it and be admired. Meanwhile someone else from the same region writes bloated epic fantasy, makes a million bucks, has television movie deals and comic books and coffee table picture books and travels all around the world to great international acclaim. There is not the first reason that guy has to be a portly old white fellow, but I guarantee he never ONCE strove to be an "authentic voice" for anyone.

I can see how Roger Clegg showing up from out of town was particularly annoying.

I feel the same way about getting scolded by Desmond Tutu about a silly television show. Self appointed conscience or ignored old dude finding a way to be in the news... either way. Mind your own business.

I doubt they ever make a point of telling people that, and neither does anyone else, which I think is good a standard. If the left didn't make a big deal about race and sexual preference, it would come up a lot less. It means absolutely nothing by itself, and is only used a a tool by bigots to disunite us.

Sorry for your loss. But I have the feeling he will provide a lot of entertainment on CSPAN in years to come with bitchy rants like the one featured. And, given the 2nd Congressional District, who expected any better?

"Nobody bothers to say "Look at how vertically those trees grow" or "Wow, this grass is green" for a reason."

And they don't say, "Look at this fabulous thriller written by a while guy," either.

They say, "Ms. Blackcreek is an authentic voice for Native Americans," and she wins a pretty award and everyone tells her how wonderful she is and she sells a couple dozen books to grievance studies programs.

It seems to me that what actually happens is that, in so many parts of life, identifying one's minority status is presented as bringing the minority into the mainstream, but it doesn't. It only proclaims your specialty.

Does one go to an "authentic voice for LGBT" for powerful financial leadership? No. Does one go to an "authentic voice for LGBT" for insight into foreign policy? No.

West is Republican so that's not going to happen to him. Having to fight to even belong to the Congressional Black Caucus doesn't hurt him at all. It just illustrates that he's not there to be put in a corner and admired and only sought out when someone needs his "authentic voice."

Speaking of the obvious I just noticed something so glaringly stupid my mind has heretofore filtered it out: The word verification applet instructs one to "type the two words" when in fact what we're given is meaningless alphabetic string and a photograph of a number.

It may be a fool's errand, but I'm going to do whatever I can to help elect Chad Lee. I literally know nothing about him other than the fact that he's not Mark Pocan. As Petunia eloquently said "Mark Pocan has all of the qualifications most Madison voters require. Civility and the ability to think freely are not among them."

Pocan is currently my state Senator and when he used his Twitter & Facebook accounts to brag about not going to the Brat Summit earlier this summer I posted a response that I was disappointed and reminded him that he represents ME, not the Democratic Party. His response was to delete my comment and block me from his Facebook page. Note that my comments were not profane or derogatory. They were critical.

I wrote to Pocan and his office twice about the issue with no response. My emails were critical, but reasonable. And again, I'm his constituent. I shudder to think how he'll treat me and other people who don't agree with him when he's in Congress. He seems to not understand what being a Representative means.

I'm no fan of Tammy Baldwin, but when I've had to contact her or her office, I've received timely and considered responses. I would expect nothing from Pocan. He's not going to Congress to represent the people of my district (remember 70,000 people in Madison voted FOR Scott Walker), he's going to Congress to represent red-meat-eating-super ideologues.

Agree! When being gay just isn't good enough, voila, "openly gay." Like it makes him an extra special moreso gay or something. It's less disparaging, but also less honest, than saying "noisy gay."

Judging from the link, Rep. Pocan is an openly dishonest showboat. Some guy was invited (invited!) to talk about a study he sponsored about admissions at the University and when he showed up Openly Gay Pocan hometowned him.

Our deficit for the month of June was $60 billion. Are people supposed to jump up and down, wild with glee, that he's a homo? I guess that's why our deficit is so big. Just what do you expect from him being elected?

"You doubt that any (all?) of them make it a point to hold public appearances with their wife?"

The fair comparison would be if a straight politician and a gay one are both single. We would likely hear much more about the gay one's sexual preference, and we would hear it mostly from the left, despite it having no relevance to the job whatsoever, unless it's Bill Clinton, who mixes work and pleasure seamlessly.